I've had 2 flyaways with my P2V+ that were completely out of my control, and have read about several others. The fact that it was an interview question makes it significant enough. His answer... wasn't.

Having our design bureau in California and our manufacturing facilities in China, one thing should be considered, especially those of you ignorant of the Chinese language and customs. Take it from one who's main daily activity was getting on Skype at 3:00am PST and talking to our plant manager in Shenzhen. Do not measure DJI's CEO responses and statements by the same measure as you would the "guy next door" Politeness is paramount, not bluntness which you may see as evasion. Do not measure his statements by your own cultural standards. I too would wish for more forthright answers...that is NOT the Chinese way and often there are not the words in pŭtōnghuà to express such thoughts. Look instead to other representatives of DJI for information

Having our design bureau in California and our manufacturing facilities in China, one thing should be considered, especially those of you ignorant of the Chinese language and customs. Take it from one who's main daily activity was getting on Skype at 3:00am PST and talking to our plant manager in Shenzhen. Do not measure DJI's CEO responses and statements by the same measure as you would the "guy next door" Politeness is paramount, not bluntness which you may see as evasion. Do not measure his statements by your own cultural standards. I too would wish for more forthright answers...that is NOT the Chinese way and often there are not the words in pŭtōnghuà to express such thoughts. Look instead to other representatives of DJI for information

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Highly insightful comment, fizzviic.
Having worked in China as a 787 flight instructor, it strikes a chord: "Face" is everything.

Fizzviic, totally understand your comment and appreciate that, HOWEVER....who are the representatives that we should "look to"? Just because manufacturing is in China does not give the company the right to provide poor customer service, and to over promise and under-deliver. DJI is in a vantage point right now because their product and the product category is hot. Wait til it dies down. Then lets see what company stands strong in the end. (read "who moved my cheese" by Spencer Johnson for more insite)

Do some homework, dig and ask questions. As for DJI reps and beta testers I think you will find that such folks as Randy Braun, Eric Cheng and Tahoe Ed here on this forum will be more than happy to help. I know of at least a half dozen I have reached out to and have been more than gracious. I'm not going to name names because I don't want them to think I am treading on their friendship, so I trust you will do your own research in this regard. I think you will soon find that the new Southern California office for customer support will be up and running BIG TIME as well as the education office in the Bay Area will be as well

those who want more answers can try the dJi forum.I know there are some good answers coming from the forum.
I must agree with fizzviic, She makes a good point. I don't like the answers given by the C.E.O. but knowing how people from the east communicate i understand better now. Just because we do things differently in the U. S. does not mean the rest of the world is wrong. we have to be able to understand some complex very ancient cultural values and how the family structure functions to really get a clue i guess.
That being said, i do think they need to address the communication issues. By subcontracting service issues in the U.S. they have made a good start. i think they are trying and doing o.k. considering the situation at hand. I got screwed on my warrantee by dji, but since that time i have had some insightful communication with the new dji service reps and they assure me that service will be different. I think in time we will see them communication differently,but for now i will cut them a bit of slack.
By the way,I work for an Oriental Corporation who has factories in China and i see issues with Quality control more than in the past even though the designs and products are better and cheaper. Components however are not quite the quality i would like,but the market desiring inexpensive products makes that difficult i am afraid.
We as consumers bear much responsibility for that i suppose.

I don't like the answers given by the C.E.O. but knowing how people from the east communicate i understand better now. Just because we do things differently in the U. S. does not mean the rest of the world is wrong. we have to be able to understand some complex very ancient cultural values and how the family structure functions to really get a clue i guess.

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It's not the obligation of the customer to understand the company or the traditions of its CEO. It is the responsibility of a competent CEO to know and cater to their customers, and not to set up their company for failure by over-promising and under-delivering.

Want to "save face?" How about not botching a product launch so badly? But what do I know... I'm only a dumb western customer who's committed almost $4000 for products and accessories he's still waiting for?

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Not wanting to put any gas on the fire, but why is anyone even debating this? The CEO's job is to run the company and make it as profitable as possible, not to be the PR person or cater to the customers. If you're not happy with the fact that your $4000 have been frozen until release of a hopefully decent product, then simply cancel your order, take your money back and buy the product when it is released.
I can perfectly accept that DJI delays release of a product until they believe it will meet minimum quality standards and not be a constant source of complaint after release.
I think most negative comments above are coming from the thrill of anticipation and not having that need fulfilled. This will be solved in a few weeks so we should trust the senior management of the company.

It's not the obligation of the customer to understand the company or the traditions of its CEO. It is the responsibility of a competent CEO to know and cater to their customers, and not to set up their company for failure by over-promising and under-delivering.

Want to "save face?" How about not botching a product launch so badly? But what do I know... I'm only a dumb western customer who's committed almost $4000 for products and accessories he's still waiting for?

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I agree. From the start I was not happy with the method they chose. Dangle carrot, accept payment, stall,stall,stall. Guys, we have a problem, this is the problem,it's going to take a bit longer..that's all I wanted.

Do some homework, dig and ask questions. As for DJI reps and beta testers I think you will find that such folks as Randy Braun, Eric Cheng and Tahoe Ed here on this forum will be more than happy to help. I know of at least a half dozen I have reached out to and have been more than gracious. I'm not going to name names because I don't want them to think I am treading on their friendship, so I trust you will do your own research in this regard. I think you will soon find that the new Southern California office for customer support will be up and running BIG TIME as well as the education office in the Bay Area will be as well

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That would be awesome. Service goes a long way. Service costs $ but pays returns in the end. WE , the owners and consumers of their products are their BEST advertising. Piss off a heap of their faithful and you stir up a s...storm of irrevocable bad PR. Not good. Not smart. Ask me about my PV2+ , love it, S1000, love it, my Inspire? Well I feel jerked around by the company and fearful that it was a rush job to solve a problem I can only speculate about.

Ask me about my experience with GoPro on the other hand. All good! Can't wait for them to get in the drone game. The dominant but complacent DJI will be in serious trouble then.

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Ehhh no they won't. DJI have a couple of years of head start. It will be near impossible for GoPro to close that gap. In order for GoPro to compete with DJI, they need to not only build drones, they need to build all their components as well in order to be profitable at competitive prices. I'm thinking sensors, flight controllers, everything... This is going to take many years to reach the level of DJI, and DJI will keep improving in the meantime as well. Unclimbable mountain imo, DJI has already won the drone race and will be the global #1 UAV player for the next 20 or so years.

Ehhh no they won't. DJI have a couple of years of head start. It will be near impossible for GoPro to close that gap. In order for GoPro to compete with DJI, they need to not only build drones, they need to build all their components as well in order to be profitable at competitive prices. I'm thinking sensors, flight controllers, everything... This is going to take many years to reach the level of DJI, and DJI will keep improving in the meantime as well. Unclimbable mountain imo, DJI has already won the drone race and will be the global #1 UAV player for the next 20 or so years.

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Ask me about my experience with GoPro on the other hand. All good! Can't wait for them to get in the drone game. The dominant but complacent DJI will be in serious trouble then.

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I wouldn't say DJI is complacent. Their customer service has certainly not been up to North American Standards, but let's not forget this is a company that went from 50 employees to over 2000 in less than 2 1/2 years. When your growing at that pace, something has got to give (in this case, customer service). However, things have improved tremendously in the past 12 months. I live in Hong Kong and less than a year ago, I had trouble getting any service in an understandable English. Today, I get responses within a few hours and the English is immaculate. Not only that, but I also get solutions to my problems which was not the case 12 months ago. This is telling me DJI is taking the criticism seriously and addressing the issues head on instead of staying complacent. Having said this, I cannot speak for people facing issues elsewhere around the globe, but for Hong Kong, things have improved tremendously.

New players in the market are welcomed from my perspective as it will force innovation further and ultimately benefit the consumer. Will DJI be the uncontested leader for 15-20 years? Who knows, but at the present time, they are clearly ahead of the game and releasing some pretty fantastic products that are making a difference. As long as they stay at the forefront of innovation and don't sacrifice on the quality of their products, they will maintain a comfortable lead in the marketplace.

Ehhh no they won't. DJI have a couple of years of head start. It will be near impossible for GoPro to close that gap. In order for GoPro to compete with DJI, they need to not only build drones, they need to build all their components as well in order to be profitable at competitive prices. I'm thinking sensors, flight controllers, everything... This is going to take many years to reach the level of DJI, and DJI will keep improving in the meantime as well. Unclimbable mountain imo, DJI has already won the drone race and will be the global #1 UAV player for the next 20 or so years.

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I think not. You are betting against a $4B company? Who's lifeblood depends on 'lifestyle photography'. GP will reverse engineer the DJI product and improve on it, bet on that. DJI already won the drone race? Please. There will be many, many more companies entering this marketplace in the coming years, GP one of them. They will not stand idily by and watch a future marketplace (that they now dominate with their cameras) go without a competitor. They are aware of the technical issues and the CS issues that DJI refuses to acknowledge..stand by...GP will be there and dominate the drone marketplace